In the NY Times for the past few days, there have been articles about a play that may come to New York soon. The first article had this headline “Workshop May Present Play Critical of Israel” which made me blink several times. Is that really newsworthy? Well apparently it is because the Times followed it up with this article opening up to discussion whether the play in question was “anti-semitic.” Then there was this article in Haaretz (also covered in the Times) about an Israeli parody which is infuriating Holocaust survivors. You can add to the mix the controversy around the cartoon in the New York Post.
I don’t really have much new to say on this topic. On the “anti-semitism” charge you can read this, where I discuss how this charge is used to silence criticism of Israel. On offending speech, this article discusses the issue in the context of the Danish cartoons.
I am a free speech absolutist. Unless an act of actual physical harm is caused by the creation in question, then it has a right to exist. What offends is extremely subjective. I, for example, am mortally offended by The Housewives of Atlanta and similar drivel on Bravo. While the idea of having the show banned or having its viewers eyes gouged out might please me, I would never actually advocate such action. My advice to those offended is to just suck it up. Remember something you like probably deeply offends someone else. Would you agree to have it banned? Don’t read or view the art that offends you, but don’t tell others they can’t. If you want to actually do something, then create some intelligent/creative/entertaining piece that responds intelligently/creatively/entertainingly to that which offends you. Otherwise just ignore it.
Tags: Hypocrisy, Propaganda, Xenophobia